December 2023 General Discussion Thread

[Zloth]

I finished up Crown of Solasta's Palace of Ice DLC. It was a bit buggy, but still fun. They got me good and scared with a message saying that the next dungeon will not let me sleep to regain hp/spells and will be extra hard - but it just wasn't that bad. I had healing potions and whatnot stored up since the main game, so getting health back was no issue at all.

It did something really strange at the end, but it's big spoilers so I'll hide it:

Spoiler

It gave me the option of sacrificing one of my characters. That's an agonizing decision to make - except this was clearly the very very end of the game. All four characters are completely maxxed out for the Solasta system, so I don't think they would even be fun to play in user-made campaigns. So, yeah, take whatever character your like. Or not.

It's on to Cyberpunk next. I've just started - it's pretty overwhelming right now. The world looks very cyberpunk, but my character doesn't yet. I need more chrome!

 

[ZedClampet]

Some people don't understand what Steam reviews are for. Here's a review of the Cyberpunk 2077 mod tools:

(talks about getting an error message and then ends with...)

Steps taken thus far:

Delete the game and re download.
Try starting CP.
Head here to the reviews and seek help.

First of all, I don't want any mod made by this person. Second of all, comments for the review have been turned off, so even if you have the answer to his question, you can't let him know. I almost think this is a joke. Maybe?

 

[Johnway]

Well, i'm starting to think that buying games is a bit pointless if Epic are giving away a game i've got in my collection. I bought ghost wire earlier in the year and behold its free on epic. i can't blame epic for that and nor can i see into the future, but damn does it hurt to feel like i've been burned.

Speaking of games, still playing POE. I'll probably take a break from it over christmas/boxing day. Maybe logging in get the free lootbox but thats probably it. progress wise i can get the next 4 achievements with a bit of grinding. After that, getting the next lot will be a lot trickier, as it will require more luck then skill to complete. i'll try and get into red maps as fast as possible and hopefully increase my prospects.

that said, having got decked in my cosmetics, i'm content at the tier one. not sure what tiers 2 3 or 4 is really going to add tbh.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Well, i'm starting to think that buying games is a bit pointless if Epic are giving away a game i've got in my collection. I bought ghost wire earlier in the year and behold its free on epic. i can't blame epic for that and nor can i see into the future, but damn does it hurt to feel like i've been burned.

Speaking of games, still playing POE. I'll probably take a break from it over christmas/boxing day. Maybe logging in get the free lootbox but thats probably it. progress wise i can get the next 4 achievements with a bit of grinding. After that, getting the next lot will be a lot trickier, as it will require more luck then skill to complete. i'll try and get into red maps as fast as possible and hopefully increase my prospects.

that said, having got decked in my cosmetics, i'm content at the tier one. not sure what tiers 2 3 or 4 is really going to add tbh.

If we could tell the future, life would be good! It definitely hurts more when it happens that soon after you bought it.

 

[Johnway]

If we could tell the future, life would be good! It definitely hurts more when it happens that soon after you bought it.

yeah, as someone who is extremely tight fisted i practice serious restraint so in a lapse of judgement leads to a purchase (because a deal was too good to pass up) its galling. i nearly made the same mistake a few weeks ago with lost ruins. I was tempted and found it at a dirt cheap price but sat on it as i saw it in various bundles etc.

I suppose the rule if its on epic store, chances are its fair game for free. Especially those that are epic exclusives.

As you say, if i could predict the future, i would be playing the lottery.

 

[Brian Boru]

buying games is a bit pointless if Epic are giving away a game i've got in my collection

Duplicates are part of the process, wear them like a budgie of honor!

What games have you bought multiple times?

@Pifanjr asked this in another thread, but I figured it deserved its own thread, especially if any of you are as careless as I am—losing track of what I already have! :rolleyes: Okay, I was expecting 20-30, not over 100, so likely explanations: Epic weekly freebie of a title I already had; Many...

forums.pcgamer.com

 

[Pifanjr]

Different strokes. I dont mind repeating some things, depends how enjoyable the process is to me.

I did play quite a lot of rogueli(k/t)es for a while, so I definitely agree, but watching a group of people slowly dig out a channel through the snow and then slowly shuffling back was not an enjoyable process to me.

I expected more impactful events with tough decisions, but instead I got asked if children should do some light work. It's pretty much the end of the world as we know it, I think it's fine letting some kids help out in the kitchen.

Anyway, I decided to play something else, so I downloaded XCOM 2, then didn't actually feel up to learning something new when it was done downloading, so I played Fortnite instead.

I've been playing it quite a lot with my kid, but we rarely play the actual Battle Royale and when we do I'm mostly just following her around. I wanted to actually be able to do some quests and see how far I could get on my own.

Turns out it's far more tense when playing by yourself, especially when you're doing well and there's only one player remaining and you have no one else to rely on.
I discovered it's fairly easy to get to that point, as ~80% of players are bad at both aiming and dodging and another 10% is decent at dodging, but worse at aiming than me. So there's typically only about 10 people in the game I need to worry about and I can usually hide somewhere while they kill each other near the end.
Too bad that the one remaining player is the kind of player who survived everyone else trying to kill them, so I ended up losing every match except one.

Now my plan was to start XCOM 2 when I felt less tired, but then today one of my friends unexpectedly gifted me Subnautica for Christmas, so I think I'll play that instead, though I'm not sure I'll get to with my kid being home the rest of the week.

 

[DXCHASE]

My Christmas eve has turned into a full family run of about 20 days average with my wife and son. We are loving this Lethal Company, it is fun.

 

[Brian Boru]

Fortnite … we rarely play the actual Battle Royale

Oh I didn't know there was sth outside the BR—is it a PvE mode, or what?

 

[ZedClampet]

damn does it hurt to feel like i've been burned.

I've never felt that way about getting a free game on a different store. But I've never stressed over buying games either. On the bright side, you have an insurance policy now for that game here at the beginning of the apocalypse.

*****

GREAT NEWS ABOUT THE STUPID PIGS​

I was in the next pen when I saw a wolf running toward my pig enclosure. I said, "oh no" as I watched him killing almost every single one of them.

Then he ran towards the chickens so I shot him.

 

[D10S]

Sweet, epic with another new $60 game.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I did play quite a lot of rogueli(k/t)es for a while, so I definitely agree, but watching a group of people slowly dig out a channel through the snow and then slowly shuffling back was not an enjoyable process to me.

I expected more impactful events with tough decisions, but instead I got asked if children should do some light work. It's pretty much the end of the world as we know it, I think it's fine letting some kids help out in the kitchen.

Anyway, I decided to play something else, so I downloaded XCOM 2, then didn't actually feel up to learning something new when it was done downloading, so I played Fortnite instead.

Now my plan was to start XCOM 2 when I felt less tired, but then today one of my friends unexpectedly gifted me Subnautica for Christmas, so

If you dont enjoy games where the decisions you make are dependent against foreknowledge of the game events, let me tell you about a little game called Xcom 2!

I think youre misrepresenting Frostpunk there. The 3 options are full child labour sending them into the factories and out gathering in the extreme cold, mild child labour like you mentioned or none at all. Later on you get stuff like adding sawdust to the food to stretch it at the cost of increased sickness, and if things go badly you might be considering 'alternative' food sources. I liked that it provided some context to make you consider a little that its not just a cold game of numbers.

Its down to the way I play games in part that I liked it so much, im the cold numbers guy in strategy who makes decisions based on the 'greater good' without considering anything else. Frostpunk made me think on that a bit, and I enjoyed that it made me question myself. If youre not an over optimizing monster like me I can see how you'd miss that bit of appeal

 

[Brian Boru]

Christmas Day has finally arrived here in the distant past, so hope you all have a very enjoyable day

And when it's all over for most of you in the future, take solace knowing I still have hours of Yuletide Felicitations ahead of me

 

[ZedClampet]

It's that special day of the year where we exchange gift cards and eat Chinese food!

I kind of miss the days when I was Santa, laid out a bunch of wrapped toys and then fixed a big holiday meal. We need some grandkids to reinvigorate our Christmas celebration.

 

[neogunhero]

SomSecond of all, comments for the review have been turned off, so even if you have the answer to his question, you can't let him know.

I see this too often. Reviews talking about a bug I know a workaround for, but comments are disabled by default and a lot of people don’t realize it. It’s a bit aggravating but then again they’re asking for advice and I’m giving it through Steam Reviews, not the best place to do so.

 

[Pifanjr]

Oh I didn't know there was sth outside the BR—is it a PvE mode, or what?

There's tons of user-made content. Escape rooms, prop hunts, clicker style games, all kinds of stuff. Most of it of mediocre quality, but there's a lot of content and my kid isn't very critical yet.

One of her favourites is Ultimate Ramp Jump, where you have a large selection of vehicles you can take down a ramp and try to jump as far as possible. Or you just try ramming other players from the platform.

If you dont enjoy games where the decisions you make are dependent against foreknowledge of the game events, let me tell you about a little game called Xcom 2!

True, I had to restart the first XCOM several times before finishing the campaign, all on ironman, but there I actually enjoyed it. I suspect I'll get back to Frostpunk too some day when I'm in the mood for it.

I think youre misrepresenting Frostpunk there. The 3 options are full child labour sending them into the factories and out gathering in the extreme cold, mild child labour like you mentioned or none at all. Later on you get stuff like adding sawdust to the food to stretch it at the cost of increased sickness, and if things go badly you might be considering 'alternative' food sources. I liked that it provided some context to make you consider a little that its not just a cold game of numbers.

Its down to the way I play games in part that I liked it so much, im the cold numbers guy in strategy who makes decisions based on the 'greater good' without considering anything else. Frostpunk made me think on that a bit, and I enjoyed that it made me question myself. If youre not an over optimizing monster like me I can see how you'd miss that bit of appeal

You're right, I was misrepresenting it for the sake of brevity. It was not meant as a fair review of the game.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Merry Christmas, everyone!

 

[Sarafan]

We await your confession…

Time: 17:44 CET
Date: 25th December 2023
Location: Somewhere in Poland
Message: Nothing to confess, over!

Seriously though, I checked gg.deals website yesterday and there are some very good deals. In official stores, not keyshops of course:

Hogwarts Legacy - 23 euros,
RoboCop: Rogue City - 28 euros (the game came out in November this year!),
Spider-Man Remastered - 28 euros,
Jagged Alliance 3 - 22 euros,
Metal Gear Solid Master Collection - 12 euros.

Really good deals. I’ll pick up something for sure.

Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays guys!

 

[Pifanjr]

I just woke my PC up from its slumber and opened the Epic game store to check today's free game, when I suddenly got a blue screen of death with the error code UNEXPECTED_STORE_EXCEPTION. I didn't realise my PC hates Epic too.

 

[DXCHASE]

Happy Holidays!

So the bugs in Lethal Company seem to be ready to get down for the day:

Other than that, have been playing through Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and its a beautiful game, ill grab some screenshots later. But its been a fun trip so far as a Na'Vi.

 

[ZedClampet]

Time: 17:44 CET
Date: 25th December 2023
Location: Somewhere in Poland
Message: Nothing to confess, over!

Seriously though, I checked gg.deals website yesterday and there are some very good deals. In official stores, not keyshops of course:

Hogwarts Legacy - 23 euros,
RoboCop: Rogue City - 28 euros (the game came out in November this year!),
Spider-Man Remastered - 28 euros,
Jagged Alliance 3 - 22 euros,
Metal Gear Solid Master Collection - 12 euros.

Really good deals. I’ll pick up something for sure.

Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays guys!

Are you getting Jagged Alliance 3? User reviews are really solid. I went ahead and picked it up. Got it installed but haven't played it yet.

Hogwarts was really good, but you probably need to be a Harry Potter fan.

 

[Sarafan]

Are you getting Jagged Alliance 3? User reviews are really solid. I went ahead and picked it up. Got it installed but haven't played it yet.

It's definitely one of the options. I was delighted by JA2 around 20 years ago and heard that JA3 is a very good new installment in the series. It's a surprise because earlier resurrections of the franchise were poor. However I also have a taste for RoboCop. I loved this character when I was a kid and watched some gameplays from the game. The shooting is extremely satisfying and the game was acclaimed by Digital Foundry one of the best looking games in 2023 and the best game on Unreal Engine 5 as of now. But... Spider-Man is also an interesting choice. The game's price doesn't want to fall anymore, so it might be a good option.

As for0 Hogwarts Legacy, I'm not a huge fan of Harry Potter, but I heard the game is a solid RPG even if you take this into account. Anyway this is further on the priority list. I'm considering to take RoboCop, Spider-Man or JA3 plus Metal Gear Solid Master Collection. If I feel generous it might even be RoboCop or Spider-Man plus JA3, but the prices will fall further for sure. That said, I'm not sure whether it's wise to make supplies, especially when there's a lot of games waiting in the library. Of course things can change before I make my mind. It's good that I didn't buy Alan Wake 2 nor Immortals of Aveum a few days ago and decided to check gg.deals yesterday.

 

[Johnway]

merry christmas all. Not going to be doing too much gaming in the next few days. but i logged in to POE this morning for my free loot box and i got... Eldrich royal body armor. A swanky torso cosmetic and a fantastic outcome as its one of the better things i wanted.

on the other gaming front. Epic was giving away The outer worlds - the remastered version that has all the dlc included. it almost happened again! i was thinking about getting that game but i held fire for some reason on some hunch/feeling and sure enough i got the game for Free. hurrah. Now i'm kind of afraid to buy anything else atm. What other goodies will epic give me and i can cross off my wish list.

We shall see....

 

[Brian Boru]

I kind of miss the days when I was Santa

The one thing I don't miss is wrapping—hated that! Got to the point I switched to using gift bags instead.

I'm dipping into 2 turn-based games today:
Civ 4
Cookie Jar Dipping

 

[Pifanjr]

My kid is staying over at my sister's and my wife took a nap when we got home from celebrating Christmas at my parents', so I got to spend 4.5 hours playing Subnautica. I might have played throughout the night if my wife hadn't woken up wanting to play something herself.

I love games where I can hoard resources to upgrade my tools to hoard more resources and unlock more tools that allow me to hoard even more resources. Especially when they give you something to work towards. Subnautica does a great job at letting me hoard, upgrade and unlock stuff and I really love the little bits of story and world building.

I have already died once, from running out of oxygen, though I blacked out when I was right by the hatch of my base. I respawned inside and didn't seem to miss anything, so I guess I got lucky.